House prosecution panel member and Bicol Saro Party-list Representative Terry Ridon said Thursday that lawmakers are weighing a potential malicious prosecution complaint against Atty. Mans Carpio, the husband of Vice President Sara Duterte, after prosecutors threw out Carpio’s criminal complaint against several legislators and anti-money laundering officials.
The decision follows the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office’s dismissal “without prejudice” of Carpio’s complaint against members of the House Committee on Justice and officials of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), citing a lack of jurisdiction.
Carpio had filed the suit after an AMLC report detailing covered and suspicious financial transactions linked to him and the Vice President from 2006 to 2025 was disclosed during an April 22 impeachment hearing.
“’Yung sa usapin po ng malicious prosecution, pag-usapan namin if kailangan ba naming kasuhan pa si Atty. Mans Carpio dito sa bagay nito. But I think at this point, that is on the table,” Ridon stated.
Ridon criticized the premise of Carpio’s legal action, arguing that lawmakers were simply performing their official duties when the AMLC document was presented.
He slammed the lawsuit as baseless and intentionally disruptive, pointing out the absurdity of targeting legislators for simply not objecting to a motion during committee proceedings.
“Tingin namin dapat, I guess, panagutin dito sa malicious prosecution itong si Atty. Carpio. Kasi malinaw naman, saan naman kayo nakakita ng kaso na isinasampa laban sa mga mambabatas just because they failed to object to a motion?” Ridon said.
“Medyo sobrang matinding kabobohan ‘yun. Kasi trabaho po ng mga mambabatas ‘yun… Tapos ‘yun ang magiging batayan bakit magkakaroon ng mga kaso. So, rightfully so, dapat po talagang binasura ‘yung kaso na ‘yan,” he added.
Describing Carpio’s complaint as “malisyoso,” “walang batayan,” “basura,” and “panggulo,” Ridon maintained that the prosecutor’s office made the correct call in throwing out the case.
“Talagang dapat ho talaga i-junk ‘yun kasi wala man ho talagang batayan ‘yan. Malisyosong kaso po ito na dapat talagang binasura po ng piskalya,” Ridon remarked. “Walang batayan, basura, panggulo. Ito po nga kaso na ito. And napatunayan kami, doon sa original namin position, na walang kwenta po itong kaso po ni Atty. Carpio, binasura po ng piskalya. Ito pong kaso na ito, ang sabi nila, without prejudice.”
“Basically, pinagloloko kami, pinagloloko yung taong bayan dito po sa kasong ito,” he added.
Ridon also dared Carpio’s legal team to refile the dismissed complaint before the proper forum, expressing confidence that it would meet the exact same fate.
“We challenge them to file it again at the Office of the Ombudsman and I’m quite certain that will still be junked,” he said.